Show SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT OPALS From the Westminster Review One kind of opal the hydropane of Mexico loses its beauty and becomes dull and colorless when exposed to water The same stone it is said can be restored re-stored to its color and beauty by subjecting subject-ing It to a certain degree of heat A writer on the subject says that the opal is always much more brilliant on a warm day and that a sharp dealer will always hold one in his hand a short time before showing it to a purchaser In ancient times the opal was most sucessfully imitated im-itated by a glass paste which could only be distinguished from the real gem by the most careful experts The art has been entirely lost for the best counterfeiters counter-feiters fail to produce a stone that in the least baffles the connoisseur The finest opal of modern times says King was one which belonged to the Empress Josephine and which was called the Burning of Troy because of the Intense In-tense red flames blazing upon its surface while the reverse was perfectly opaque In the troublous time that followed the Napoleonic period the gem was lost sight wasof of and there is left no trace of it There are two wonderful opals among the French crown jewels one of which is set m the clasp of the imperial cloak The Empress Eugenie is said to have a most superstitious dread of them and would not wear an opal for any persuasion Queen Victoria does not share < his feeling feel-ing with her She on the contrary admires ad-mires the gem very much and has given to each of her daughters on their set set riage day various pieces of jewelry various with the irridescent gem There are many varieties of opals coming from almost as many quarters of coming The opal found in Hungary was thought those than those harder and more durable America but found in Mexico and South since the better development of been mines in these places stones have been found quite the equal of Hungarian gems |